


Changing History

by writtenthroughtime



Category: Outlander (TV), Outlander Series - Diana Gabaldon
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Prompt Fic, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-09
Updated: 2015-11-09
Packaged: 2018-04-30 20:10:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,536
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5178077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writtenthroughtime/pseuds/writtenthroughtime
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prompt from my blog: Hi! Can you write a ficlet about what would have happened if Claire and Jamie had actually succeeded in stopping the Bonnie Prince in France and Culloden never happened? Would they have returned to Scotland? Would Jamie have become laird? Would they have to go into hiding until the English left Scotland or would they have gone to America earlier with Jenny and family? Would Claire have still gone through the stones?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Changing History

          Standing hand-in-hand at the docks watching _Il Reale_ sail away, I couldn’t help my smile as I look up at Jamie. We did it. Somehow we changed history, Culloden won’t happen because of us, thousands of Scots will live among those men, my husband. Happiness doesn’t even begin to describe the emotions coursing through me at the prospect of living, thriving, and freely with the man I love.  
In a months time Jared would be returning from Germany, two months time a trial would be held in London, and then home. I know how much Jamie longed to go back to Scotland to be the Laird and farmer he was meant to be. To raise a family… Faith may not be with us physically on the way back home, but hopefully she can watch over our journey and any of her siblings that may come along.  
          “Ah! Sassenach, yer wee plan worked!” I could see Jamie’s smile was as large as my own as he drew me into his chest. “I may not understand why it worked but I canna say I’m disappointed.”  
The steady thrum of his heart was quicker than normal from the excitement of accomplishing a daunting task and anxiousness of what was yet to come. “You might not see what all we’ve done but the history books will change in my time. Instead of one of the bloodiest uprisings Scotland has ever seen peace and the highland way of life will be preserved.”  
         “Too bad our peace canna start today, mo nighean donn? I dinna know if I can wait so long for us to have it. Every turn we take something else blocks us.”  
          “We can get through this, Jamie. Together we can get through any challenge, road block, and trial.”  
          Kissing me on the top of my head he said, “Together is where we belong, Sassenach. Now that the Bonnie Prince is sailing back to Italy, why don’t we go meet with an old friend?”  
           “What friend did you summon for?”  
          “Ye’ll see.” A sly smirk crossed his face as he lead us back towards Jared’s house and the mystery friend who awaits our arrival.

 

          “Ned!”  
          “My dear Claire how have you been?” The little old lawyer of the MacKenzie Clan asked me as he entered Jared’s parlor.  
          “I’m quite well, and why are you here?”  
         Walking around the table Ned took a seat on the settee near me answering, “Why young Master Jamie here sent for me. Says you’ll be in need of a lawyer for a certain Captain’s trial in two months.” The mischievous twinkle in Ned’s eyes made me enthralled to learn what he had in store.  
         “Yes, I suppose we will be needing a lawyer’s advice.”  
          “I have to admit, I am surprised you both managed to get this trial underway after the first Petition of Complaint never made it to London. How ever did you get this opportunity?”  
          Jamie circled the room and began explaining how we became in favor of his majesty the King of France. How King Louis was friends with the Duke of Sandringham and persuaded the Duke to yet again take our petition to the courts in London. The king’s personal attorney drew up our petition, with the king’s signature as witness to our testimony.  
         “That is quite the tale young Jamie. Can you trust the Duke this time or the French king for that matter?” Ned inquired, hands folded under his chin, and the wrinkles on his face etched even deeper with concentration.  
         “Since the petition made it to London all I can do is trust that it has done its job and I’m not walking into a room only to be arrested.”  
         “What I can do for the both of you is counsel you in what you can and canna say during court.”  
          “Thank-you, Ned.” I said and grabbed one of Jamie’s hands to stop him from pacing while Ned helped us.  
          The morning of the trial day one Captain of the Dragoons, Jonathan Wolverton Randall, Esq dawned lugubrious and bleak— I hoped the weather will not be a precursor for what is to happen to us today. If the court is in our favor Jamie and I can sail at once for home, if not we could both be imprisoned or killed before the day is out. We walked to the courts in silence, hands held tight between us, with the anxiety of the event before us palpable. When we arrived at the court room the trial was to take place in I found myself wanting to be anywhere but here dragging Jamie along with me to where ever might be safer. The questions that will be asked I’m dreading— both of us reliving our worst times with Black Jack. My poor husband having to relive his rape and torture has already started to pray on him. Last night the nightmares struck again, leaving me helpless and stricken wanting to help him but knowing there wasn’t a way for me to fight the demons for him.  
           The courtroom was busy, noisy and not at all what I expected. For whatever reason I imagined this room to be full of morose, weathered, angry looking men in their black robes and powdered wigs, not the vivacious young men lining the walls enthusiastically conversing amongst each other— at least I got the wigs and robes right. Jamie and I were ushered to the front of the room to, what I could describe as a pew or bench, across from where I assumed the judge would be sitting.  
           Placing a hand on my knee Jamie leaned in and whispered, “Yer bouncin’ that leg so hard yer making me rattle about. Dinna fash yerself Sassenach, whatere is decided here we will get through it, ye ken?” A feeble smile crossed my lips as I made an effort to qualm the nervous bouncing and nod my head back at Jamie’s words.  
It wasn’t long until the tall, dark, red clad figure that was Black Jack Randall entered the room. I was reminded yet again of how much Frank resembled his ancestor in looks alone, the gentle personality I knew to go with that face was no where to be found. Shock coursed through me when I looked away from Black Jack and at his surroundings, or lack of surroundings. He had no guards, soldiers, or any form of detainment— my heart sank to the floor. Hoping that the lack of detainment was normal and my knowledge of how this should work being skewed by the prejudices I have against him and my little knowledge of court proceedings from my own time, perhaps he will leave here clapped in irons.  
          Randall took a seat on the bench to the right of Jamie and I, a short and squat man seated beside him rifling through papers— his lawyer, whom I knew would come armed with anything he could to get these ‘slanderous accusations’ removed. Turning away from Randall’s lawyer I took a peak at Jamie’s face, the fury and loathing etched deep into the lines of his face, eyes hardened and ice-like. Without thought I touched Jamie’s face in attempts to smooth out the lines and bring him back to me.  
         “Jamie,” I whispered, “please look at me.” Holding my hand to his cheek and attempting to guide his face to look at mine. When he finally gave in and moved to look at me his eyes softened for a fraction of a moment then hardened again.  
         “I canna let him sit there and no’ do something!” The anger in his voice should scare anyone who heard it.  
         “You can and you will until it is time for us to speak. You remember what Ned told us. We let Harrington speak for us and we only speak the truth when questioned directly.”  
         “It’ll be a lil hard to let Harrington do all the speakin’, Sassenach.”  
         “I didn’t say all of the speaking, but there will be a time when we need to be quiet and let the lawyer do his job.”  
         “If it were Ned I wouldna say a word but I dinna ken this man and no’ do I trust him fully.”  
         “He is King Louis’s personal attorney, I’m sure he will do us justice.”  
          Jamie made his guttural Scottish noise in the back of his throat and shook his head. “The only reason King Louis let us use his personal attorney is because he wants up yer skirts, Claire.” My face flushed and I shook my head in protest. Before I could say anything Jamie continued, “Ye know it’s true. I’ve seen the way he looks at ye, though I canna say I fault him in admiring ye, Sassenach, for I do it daily, but I canna say I particularly like him admiring ye.”  
          I could understand where he was coming from but I didn’t agree. The king is in good favor with the Duke of Sandringham, he thoroughly enjoyed Jamie’s company in Paris, and I believe he wants us to be in his debt forcing us back to France and Jamie back into his circle. Only time will tell when it comes to the King of France.  
          A hush enveloped the courtroom almost instantaneously as the doors once again banged open, only this time to present the judge. A short man in a black robe, long curly powdered wig, a thick tome under his arm, and a scowl on his face that looked to be permanently carved into his sunken in features. Looking at everyone, when the judge’s eyes fell upon me a cold chill coursed through me and I could not hold his gaze.  
          “The Petition of Complaint proceedings for the People of Scotland, namely a Mister James A.M.M. Fraser, Laird Broch Turach and his Lady, Claire E. B. Fraser, against one Captain of the Dragoons, Jonathan W. Randall, Esquire is now in session. Representation of the People of Scotland please speak your case now.”

           For five hours we listened as Harrington and Randall’s lawyer battled it out throwing cause and rebuttals back and forth like a tennis match. Where either of them received this much information from, whether true or false, built a case that was evenly divided from what I could tell. Harrington’s behavior changed in an instance and I knew then he was about to drag out Jamie and I’s horrific past with Randall.  
          “Your honor, I would like to bring about a most grievous occurrence that befell Mistress Fraser by the hands of the accused.” The judge gave a slight nod in motion for Harrington to continue, “Before the lady married Mr. Fraser, she was forcibly held, interrogated, and then beat by the accused. After her marriage to Mr. Fraser, the accused had her kidnapped and delivered to Fort William where she was tortured for information, nearly raped and had a knife held to her throat.”  
          “Milady is this true?”  
          “Yes, your honor.”  
          “Does the accused have a rebuttal?”  
          “Your honor the time in question before Mistress Fraser was indeed Mistress Fraser, she was Mistress Beauchamp and a subject of the English crown, the allegations mentioned before her time married should not be a viable circumstance to present!”  
          “Forgive me Mister Lawrence, but are you saying the behavior of an English soldier to an English citizen should not matter? She is under the English crown as a Scottish subject and as an English subject just as she was under the English crown when she could claim being only an English subject. How could the actions of one who is to protect the people under English govern be any different in circumstance from one proclaimed subject to the other? Both Scotland and England were under the English crown last I checked, and both are entitled to the same entitlements under the law. An English subject is still an English subject.”  
          “Mister Lawrence do you have a comeback for this?”  
          “I-uh.. no your honor.”  
          “Mister Harrington, do you have any further allegations to proclaim?”  
          “I do, your honor.”  
          “Please proceed.”  
          “Thank-you, your honor. The following allegations are not for the faint of heart and will shed more light onto the disrespect and disregard the accused holds the Crown’s subjects. Mister James Fraser was taken from his home in 1739 for ‘obstruction’ as per the charge sheet from Fort William. Mister Fraser was in fact defending the honor of his sister one, Janet Fraser Murray, when the accused beat him at his home and then imprisoned him for no reason. The attempted rape of Mistress Murray is what compelled Mister Fraser to defend his land, not stop the tariff to help aid the soldiers. When at Fort William, Mister Fraser endured two-hundred lashes within a week for his ‘crimes’. He also accrued a price on his head for ten pound sterling for murder, a murder which he did not commit. In the gathering today I have the doctor from Fort William who tended to Mister Fraser at his time in Fort William. Mister Hodges will you please stand and state the condition Mister Fraser was in two days after the second flogging, the day Mister Fraser was given the charge of murder?”  
           “Your honor, my name is Geoffrey Hodges, I was the attending physician at Fort William from 1730 until 1740. When Mister Fraser was in my care in later October of ’39 his back had been flayed open twice within a week as Mister Harrington has stated. The second flogging was worse than the first causing Mister Fraser to become delirious with fever and swelling. His back trying to mend caused such strain on the young Mister Fraser that he was out of consciousness more than he was with it for those two days. He couldn’t even raise his head out of the deliriousness let alone hold, steady, and fire a pistol to shoot the man he has been accused of murdering.”  
          “Thank-you Mister Hodges.” The doctor nodded and sat back down, how or where Harrington found this man I did not know but I was more than grateful to have someone testify for us.  
          “Your honor, if I may,” The judge nodded, “what the plaintiff may say is true, however that does not change the fact that Mister Fraser did attempt to escape after the first flogging and managed to escape after the second. If the man could not even hold his head up to shoot a man, how did he escape that very same day?”  
          “Mister Harrington, this is a question I would like to have answered as well, how did your client escape from Fort William without killing the officer he is accused of killing?”  
          “He escaped with some help from some of his fellows. Mister Fraser was to be released the day of his flogging but was held after his woulds caused further illness. When his comrades arrived to take him home he would not be brought to them so they went to him and escorted him home. None of the men were armed and only wanted to take the boy back to where he belonged. A witness was found who saw the murderer of the officer Mister Fraser is accused of killing, one Officer Horrocks saw Captain Jonathan Randall shoot the deceased when he was notified Mister Fraser had been released.”  
          “You can’t be serious! Blaming me for killing my own men!? Why that is one of the most preposterous accusations I’ve heard today!”  
          “Mister Lawrence if you do not keep your client under control I will and he will not be happy with how I do it!”  
          “Yes your honor. Sir please, let me speak and we will get these slanderous accusations righted.” Black Jack looked at Harrington and if the term ‘looks could kill’ were true Harrington, myself and Jamie would be six feet under right now.  
          The judge flipped through the copious amounts of notes on his table and motioned towards Harrington, “Do you have any further accusations to bring forward.”  
         “Yes sir, only one more.” Instead of speaking the judge early waved his hand in continuation.  
         “That time in Fort William was not Mister Fraser’s only encounter of misdoing from the accused. This past winter Mister Fraser was handed over to the English soldiers for the price on his head and sent to Wentworth Prison— at this time Mister Fraser had already begun the process of getting a pardon enacted and sent the paperwork on with the Duke of Sandringham, a document that never made it to London thanks to Jonathan Randall. Randall seduced the information out of the Duke of Sandringham while playing cards and drinking one night, then stealing the documents from him. Randall brought the documents with him to Wentworth Prison where he began the worst of his tortures against Mister Fraser. In a dungeon cell of the prison Captain Randall tortured Mister Fraser by means of breaking his writing hand, shattering the bones to the point where even now one will not bend, branding his chest with his person insignia, raping Mister Fraser repeatedly, nailing his hand to a table, and beating his ribs with a metal mallet. While there Captain Randall also took out the Petition of Complaint Mister and Mistress Fraser had tried to file, and burnt it over the candle in the room.”  
          Gasps were heard all around us. Jamie’s grip on my leg had tightened into an almost painful grind, his face was white, and lips drawn into a thin, angry line. All of his dirty laundry aired out for the entire court to see, my unfortunate encounters out for all to see, his life on the line and mine as well, kept Jamie tense and if I could read his mind, thinking he wish this trial were over.  
          “You failed to mention how the whore tried to break him out of Wentworth!”  
          “That is enough out of you Captain Randall!” The judge yelled. “Mister Lawrence a reply to the current allegation?”  
          “Only what Captain Randall just said, the whor— Mistress Fraser did attempt to break Mister Fraser out of Wentworth Prison.”  
          “Nothing to attest to his actions of rape, torture, or burning legal documents?”  
          “No your honor.”  
          “It appears to me that this man has done nothing but cause this couple harm. The escape attempt, the alleged escape, and her supposed attempted prison-break were all minor doings compared to the situations they were in. Don’t you agree?”  
Before the squat man had a chance to reply the judge issued a statement that caused my heart to soar!  
          “I do not need to hear anything further. After extensive accusations not only towards Mister and Mistress Fraser, but multiple peoples of Scotland and England, I find Captain Jonathan Randall guilty of misconduct and misuse of power along with unnecessary harm, kidnapping, and rape. He will be striped of all titles, land, and money and is sentenced to seven years at Marshalsea Prison followed by seven years of indentured service at a place to be determined when the time presents. As for Mister James Fraser the price on his head has been lifted and a full pardon enacted. I will say though Mister Fraser do be careful up north and if need be relocate to keep your head, being pardoned will only get you so far. Mistress Fraser, please accept the court’s apology on behalf of the King of England for your suffering, all of the assets seized from Mister Randall will be liquidated and sent to you in compensation.”  
           Elation was all I could feel. Jamie was free! **We were free!**  
          Before I could turn to hug my husband and feel the weight of this ordeal wash out of me a commotion caught the corner of my eye.  
          “I WILL NOT STAND FOR THIS!” Randall screamed as he lunged at my husband. Black Jack managed a few solid punches to Jamie’s face and ribs before being flung off of Jamie and knocked out.  
          Jamie looked up at the judge to see if anything were to happen to himself for briefly being in a brawl inside a courtroom.  
          “Take this idiot away before he wakes up!” The judge bellowed. “Mister Fraser I am deeply sorry for this man’s actions. Do you need a physician to look you over?”  
          “Thank-ye kindly your honor, but no. My wife is a mighty fine healer and will see to it that I’m back to normal. Thank-ye again for hearing our Petition and granting my pardon.” The judge simply nodded with a faint smile that caused his face to look like a Halloween Jack-o’-lantern.  
          “If that’s the case Mistress Fraser, I’ll leave him in your care and wish you both the best of luck.”  
          Watching the judge calmly walk out of the courtroom, Black Jack being carried like a sack of potatoes, I hoped to a prison, and finally looking at Jamie a smile splitting both our faces. It was over. All of what we wanted to change has happened and we were finally free.  
         “To Lallybroch?” I asked him as I leaned up to kiss him. Breaking the kiss Jamie said, “Aye, mo nighean donn. To Lallybroch.”


End file.
